Sunday Surprise! A Bonus Post

I know, we're not supposed to see each other until tomorrow, but I was too excited to let it wait -- I know what I want to do for decorating.

This excited.

Paper snowflakes!! They don't melt, molt, or die, and they're super cheap to make. Add some curly willow branches in a vase, some votive candles and some faux wrapped gifts, and voila! A fun, contemporary holiday feeling that won't cost too much money and will last well beyond December. Here's the inspiration board:

I <3 Picasa, 'nuff said.

I'll keep you updated as things progress. See you tomorrow!

TAMPONS! And Other Quirky DIY Holiday Decor

This year, the Mr. and I will be house-sitting all through the holiday season, for an adorable black lab and a cat who seems pretty nice as long as you never make the mistake of rubbing his tummy.

Never again, Mr. Snuggles. Never again.

However, our house will still need to get into the festive spirit, since a) What kind of aspiring 1950's housewife would I be if I skipped out on decorating duty? and b) We'll be hosting a party a few days after Christmas, and I'd hate for everyone to think we just kept things the SAME all the time (the horror!). Yet without being home for much of December, we can't justify buying a tree -- thus, goodbye to my Honeymooner's Christmas Eve episode reenactment, at least this year.

Instead, I'm going to do something fresh and original this year, something homemade, something non-traditional. Yes, I am going to put those six years of art school to work!

Luckily, I'm not alone in this quest - I have the Internet to help me figure out just what to do. And lo and behold, when I search for "non-traditional Christmas decorations," what to my wondering eyes should appear but TamponCrafts.com!

Adventures In Photoshop

I'm looking at YOU, Bratz Doll!

Ever since I saw this video, I've been dying to try my hand at some of the more "extreme" tools in Photoshop - particularly the infamous liquify. Now, I really feel like I'm betraying my team here, because generally I'm firmly on the anti-photoshop, please-give-me-as-close-to-reality-as-artistically-possible side of things when it comes to fashion advertisements, and whatever other places little girls get crazy ideas about what is beautiful . . . what could it be?

But I promise, the technological depravity is for a good cause -- I'll use Photoshop in an upcoming art project that addresses gender perceptions. Still, I need to get good enough first! Hence, as of today, I've started my practice sessions in "Extreme Photoshop Editing" (that's what they call it on the internets so it must be true!). I'm slow, but things are turning out (sorta).

Today's victim: a propaganda pic I took right after running down to the polls on election day (gotta document those voter stickers quick before they fall off!). I've styled it after the pin-up girls of Gil Elvgren (who happens to be the artist behind my profile pic and one of my favorite commercial artists of all time). He worked from real models, photographing them in the poses he wanted, then painting them with the classic idealized features: smaller waists, bigger busts, fuller mouths, and big exotic eyes. Often, they were in some variety of this pose:

That wringer is getting quite a view.

I mean, who wouldn't just happen to get their entire skirt stuck in a wringer? I know I would!

Now, remember, this is my first time, so don't mock me too harshly. Without further ado, ladies and gentleman and everyone else, I present to you "EXTREME ADVENTURES IN PHOTOSHOP, PART I: I Voted"

Head goes POW

Since I'm hard at work on my grad school application (no, really!), I've found I've exhausted my usual means of procrastination. Thankfully, there's AOL News photo galleries. I stumbled across a article about a recycled bicycle Christmas tree, and . . .
 

Artist Ralph Schmerberg's piece about climate change called "Power Eater."

Photographer Carl Warner is blowing my mind with this edible landscape.

Pillow-Tie. Yes, this is a real thing.

David Mach + Bottecelli is this fiber artist's dream. Although technically, I discovered him through his giant metal hanger sculpture of a gorilla . . .

Gianfranco Reni's gas masks - this season's must-have commentary on Mexico City's air quality. Or just post-apocalyptic glamor-ware?

Boo Ritson, your creepy real life action figures are making my mind boggle at the time involved (and my skin wonder how much it hurts to remove all that paint).

These lucky peeps are checking out a solar eclipse, and Noah Seelam got to document it. Jealous!

Yep, I had to share a bit of it with you. If you want to see the original gallery where all this cool stuff came from, along with a bunch of other cool stuff, go here, and click on the tree-cycling gallery link.

That's all for now -- I should probably go clean something.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship . . .

Mr. has discovered his inner artist, and I sense this is only the beginning of some amazing collaborations to come - watch out Christo and Jean-Claude, Kidney House Productions is just getting started!

We created this piece for the GLOW exhibition up in Oracle, AZ, using wire, blue LEDs, and Mr.'s extensive soldering knowledge (I don't work with hot stuff outside of the kitchen), and ended up displaying it twice in the last couple months. Hopefully, our website will be up and running soon, but in the meantime, here's a couple pictures of the piece, along with pictures of some of the other works displayed there.

Our piece

Some fun glow-in-the-dark Rorschach paintings, and one of the spinning shadow pieces.

I can't wait to try out the method of this mermaid painting! The octopus and giant puppet were both awesome uses of light in a sculpture -- so cool.

That lamp needs to be in my living room. The galaxy is my pick for best micro-macro piece, and the final image is a shot I took of the interior of a corrugated aluminum tube with lights inside. Pretty incredible how the simple can become sublime.

If you're interested in checking out more images from this show, or seeing some images from the second installation (hopefully I'll get some posted up here soon), go check out my artist page on Facebook.